Virginia offers the perfect matchup for Fresno State coach Pat Hill: a Top 25 opponent and another chance to knock off a team from a Bowl Championship Series conference.

At least this time Fresno State faces the 18th-ranked Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference on a neutral field today in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Usually, the Bulldogs play these games in the other team’s stadium.

But if anyone thinks Fresno State (8-3) from the Western Athletic Conference has nothing to lose, think again.

“We’ve got plenty to lose,” Hill insisted. “When we played Washington in the opener, our fans wouldn’t have accepted a loss. The expectation at Fresno State is to win, and a win over Virginia would salvage our season at 9-3.”

If LSU officials choose to contact Tommy Tuberville about replacing Nick Saban, the Auburn coach is willing to listen.

A person with direct knowledge of the process told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday that Tuberville’s agent, Jimmy Sexton of Memphis, has been given the green light to talk to LSU if the school is interested.

Saban, also Sexton’s client, announced Saturday that he will leave LSU for the Miami Dolphins after coaching the Tigers against Iowa in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Saturday.

The AJC also has learned that a key LSU booster contacted Sexton to determine if Tuberville would be interested in coaching his third team in the SEC’s West Division. Tuberville was the coach at Ole Miss from 1995-98 before taking over at Auburn in 1999.

Vanderbilt running back Kwane Doster was shot to death in Tampa, Fla., early Sunday when someone fired at the parked car he was in, police said.

Doster, 21, of Tampa, died at Tampa General Hospital after being shot near the Ybor City nightlife district, police spokesman Joe Durkin said. Detectives were trying to find the killer and determine a motive.

Doster and two friends had stopped their car while “cruising around” when another car pulled up beside them, Durkin said. Several shots were fired at Doster’s car, and one hit him in the chest while he was sitting behind the driver. No one else was hurt.

“Kwane’s death is a terrible and tragic loss to our Vanderbilt family,” Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. “Everyone who knew Kwane, from his fellow players and students, his coaches and their families, and even fans, have suffered a personal loss today.”

He was the first Vanderbilt player named the Southeastern Conference’s freshman of the year after a school record 798 yards rushing in 2002.

Utah and Pittsburgh arrived for their Fiesta Bowl matchup on Sunday, one team unbeaten and breaking the Bowl Championship Series barrier and the other stung by criticism that it doesn’t deserve to be here.

The Utes (11-0) couldn’t believe the reception, which included a red carpet, a mob of yellow-clad Fiesta Bowl volunteers and the event’s trademark mariachi band.

“I guess this is why they call it the BCS, huh?” Utah senior defensive tackle Sione Pouhal said. “In the Liberty Bowl, we had Elvis Presley out there by himself. Here we’ve got all those yellow jackets. This is the real deal. I didn’t think it would be like this when we were practicing in Salt Lake City, but I guess this is the opening of things to come.”

The game matches head coaches making their farewell appearances before moving on to new jobs. Utah coach Urban Meyer is headed for Florida, Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris to Stanford.

Both decided to coach their final games before taking over their new jobs.

BASEBALL

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson has been detained on suspicion of assaulting a local judge at a beach on Christmas, police said.

Ponson, who was born in Aruba, has not been formally charged but is expected to be arraigned today on assault and battery charges, police spokesman Edwin Comenencia said.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said there was nothing wrong with the officials expressing “private political views via private text messages.” Strzok, in particular, “did not say anything about Donald Trump that the majority of Americans weren’t also thinking at the same time,” he said.

By William Booth | Washington Post LONDON – At $1 billion it is the most expensive embassy ever constructed. But its designers say the new American chancery on the Thames River marks a paradigm shift in design: the U.S. Embassy here will exude openness, while hiding all the clever ways it defends itself from attack. After decades of building American...

State regulators are due to consider a plan to replace power from the Metcalf Energy Center in south San Jose with alternative electricity sources, including battery storage. If implemented, the plan could boost PG&E customers’ utility bills.